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How to Create a Custom Curtain Panel

August 17, 2012

Before I show you how I customized curtain panels using the Cameron Drape from Pottery Barn, there are a few things you should know about my house.

1) I live in a house with 92 windows.

2) My house gets a lot of sun and heat in the summer

3) My electric bills in the summer are very high, but not as high as the national debt.

4) My husband has a problem with anything hanging on the window and will often say "I don't know why we moved to the country, just to cover up the view"! You can read how I won solved that debate with my husband here.

Whether my husband agrees or not, my kitchen has a row of windows that needed something on them, so I purchased the Cameron Panels in Ivory from Pottery Barn. I had purchased these same panels for my master bedroom here.

Since my finished length needed to be 120 inches, I purchased the panels in 84inch length and used 36 inches of finished burlap on the bottom. The natural texture and neutral tones were perfect for the look of the curtain and for the space.

To provide the extra protection against the heat and the cold weather, I had them lined with a heavy liner. The curtains also provide a fair amount of darkness to the room when closed which is the only disadvantage with using a heavy liner, especially since this is not a room that I want to bring darkness too.

I always make the panels a bit longer then necessary because I like how they puddle on the floor.

I am convinced that I could not have found a fully lined panel in 120 inches for less then $50.00, which is what these ended up costing per panel. Each panel was $35.00 plus the cost of liner and burlap, which is not expensive.

Not a bad price or look for custom drapery. Don't you think? The best part is that we have seen slight reduction in our electric bill this summer. Not enough for the country to pay our debt back to China, but maybe enough for dinner out with the family.

Very nice! I love that you added burlap to the bottom. We live in the sun for the most part too and also have alot of large windows in our Home. I have had to keep the blinds and the drapes closed most of the summer on one side of our Home because of the heat. We live in an older Home with original leaded glass windows. So we don't necessarily want to replace them. Best solution, lined curtains and shades. Have a great day!

I love them! Plus they are giving me confidence to add a bottom panel to our too-short drapes in our guest room. I swear, sometimes we bloggers are living parallel lives. Today I posted about the drapes in our master bedroom, which took me a year to convince my husband that we needed:)

I've customized all my curtains for a few years now...using drop cloths and curtains! I like to "hang them high" with a finished length of about 92" so I cut the drop cloth to 70" and make a 22" "border"...a good look for a great price.

What?..92 windows??? that's a lot of windows and treatments!!...Love the drapery panels...they came out beautiful....Laura, you are one talented lady!...love the burlap...I am sure your family thanks you for the dinner out that was your treat! Have a wonderful weekend!

These drapes are beautiful! Great idea and definitely a deal at $50 a panel! I'd love for you to share them at my Twirl & Take a Bow party at www.houseontheway.com. It's today through Sunday. Hope you can stop by!Leslie

Love those drapes! They appear to split the floor and the ceiling, which is not commonly seen. And the flow of light into the room is amazing. It appears that certain areas of the room are accentuated by the light, thus creating a beautiful contrast. Two thumbs up!

“I always make the panels a bit longer then necessary because I like how they puddle on the floor.”--- Me too! Haha! Those pictures remind me of our old house which also had that kind of window. So, I really love to use longer length curtains but I used to add drapes as well, to establish some stylish setting.

It was during the holidays when we had long curtain panels in our living room. Our family was complete and there were many children around the house playing hide and seek, and almost too predictably, they hid in between those long panels. Haha! It’s really fun to watch them. The little ones are really adorable.

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Welcome

Hi, I am Laura and Welcome to Top This Top That. I am so glad that you are here. My blog is about my love for family, home decor, design and life around here in the country on a farm....with my donkeys and my paint brush.